By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Playing without their best perimeter scorer, injured Juan Carlos Navarro, Spain in theory could be in trouble against Australia. That just didn’t happen with Pau Gasol taking charge with 20 points and Rudy Fernandez, who was slightly injured in the head in the end of first half after falling to a photographer, scoring 17. Spain won 82-70 after a great third quarter with a partial score 26-10 in its favor. The main question remains when Navarro will be ready to play again and there wasn’t a clear answer after the end of the game.
In the first match of the second day at London’s Olympic tournament, Russia, led by Andrei Kirilenko (16 p., 9 r.) and Alexey Shved (14 p., 6 as.), beat China 73-54. NBA free agent Yi Jianlian with 16 points was the only player scoring in double digits from the loosing side.
The third European win of the day came from Lithuania against Nigeria (72-53). The Africans had just 24,2% field goal percentage and made one three point in 16 attempts. Darius Songaila with 12 points was the top scorer for the winners and legendary point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius dished 9 assists.